The Affordable Housing Act of 2024 was signed into law on March 19th, introducing a 1.5% levy on incomes to fund affordable housing projects. The key provisions are:

Housing Levy Deductions

• Salaried employees will have 1.5% deducted from their monthly pay
• Employers must match the 1.5% employee contribution
• Self-employed and non-salaried workers must pay 1.5% of their gross income
• Affordable Housing Levy (AHL) deduction will start on March 19.
• Deductions should be submitted by the 9th of every month (for the previous month’s salary or earnings)

Government’s Affordable Housing Goals

• Plan to build 250,000 housing units annually
• 50,000 units from the market, 200,000 from the government
• 103,000 units under construction after 18 months
• Over 110,000 construction jobs created

Housing Levy Funds

• Ksh 32 billion collected from July 2023–January 2024
• Ksh 3 billion already spent
• Ksh 29 billion is currently held by Central Bank

Projected Levy Revenue

• Expected to rise from Ksh 6 billion to Ksh 9-10 billion per month
• Estimated Ksh 108–120 billion annually

Affordable Housing Pricing (getting a house)

According to the principal secretary, for those earning between 20,001 and 149,000 Kenyan shillings per month, the affordable housing units include studio apartments (bedsitters) at 5,200 shillings per month, two-bedroom units at 10,200 shillings per month, and three-bedroom units at 15,000 shillings per month. Again, these details were provided by the Principal Secretary and are not specified in the act.

Implementation

Affordable Housing Board formed, led by a chairperson appointed by the president, that will be responsible for management issues.

The Cabinet Secretary for land has also been tasked with coming up with laws in the next 30 days for the operation of the act.